Some Kind of Always
by Padlock
Summary: Toru has been soaked in the rain when Akito's father rescues her. Akito and Toru bond and form a friendship and about 10 years later, Toru moves in with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo. How will Akito take the news that his Toru is getting along so well with his animals? / Akito is a male & AkitoToru / Slightly AUish
1. Pinky Swear

**Chapter 1:** A Pinky Swear 

Toru sat in the sandbox. She played with the sand, tried to form onigiris which would immediately collapse after her hand left the form. The sand was dry and loose because it was a sunny day in mid-spring. The brown haired girl looked up into the sky.

Her mother hadn't return home for the last two nights and Toru felt so lonely. She hadn't even gone to kindergarten because nobody had been there to take her to it. She simply sat in front of the door to their flat, waiting for her mother to come home. Although _when_ her mother was home, she didn't do much. She usually sat down, leaning against the wall for support and stared off into nothingness.

But Toru was a clever girl—or at least she pretended to be. Her mother had changed ever since her father left them. Wasn't Toru enough? Would her mother leave for no reason as well? The 5-year-old didn't know but the thought that her mother wouldn't come back didn't seem so unlikely to her.

For a while now Toru had tried to speak like the man she remembered as her father but it didn't have an effect at all—her mother would just continue to cry and then "go for a walk". Toru didn't know where her mother was walking all the time but seeing that she wasn't coming home anymore the place must be much nicer than their flat.

The girl hadn't realized how she had been staring upwards because suddenly a drop of water was hitting her on the nose. Rain. A downpour started, soaking the small child in a matter of mere seconds. But Toru didn't stop looking at the sky. Maybe if she sat here long enough, maybe then would her mother come to search for her and take her home? Because there wasn't a thing in the whole wide world that Toru would want more than to be scooped up in her mother's arms and carried home towards her warm bed.

All of a sudden the rain stopped and the little girl snapped out of her thoughts. The sky above her was red. Or more like it was covered by an umbrella. Toru looked to the side to see a man holding the umbrella. He was old, like her mother, with a kind smile on his lips. His lightly colored hair reached down to his chin and he was wearing a light brown yukata. "You'll catch a cold," he kindly said but didn't sound as if he scolded her.

The brown-haired girl focused her eyes on him. They were usually shining with her own kindness but she felt numb, empty, left alone. "But I'm waiting for my mother," she replied politely but couldn't manage a smile. Instead, she started to shiver. The smile disappeared from the man's face. "Your mother? Where has she gone to?" Toru shook her head in confusion. "I don't know. But I will wait until she comes back. I'm a good girl. I don't need to go to kindergarten. I'm not hungry. I'm waiting for mother to come home."

The man stretched out his hand towards the poor little girl whose tears were mingling with the spring rain. "I'm Akira. I will help you find your mother." Toru stared at the hand, confused, before she latched onto it. Unknowingly, she was yearning for skin contact, for someone who would show her affection by patting her head or even hugging her. She couldn't even remember the last time her mother had embraced her. Akira immediately noticed that the girl's hand was far too cold and that she probably was already suffering from hypothermia. "And what is your name?" he asked, smiling.

Toru opened her mouth but an answer didn't pop out. She sank to the side and collapsed against Akira's knee. 

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open. It was bright and her body was warm, covered by a blanket. She felt cozy. The girl sat up, ignoring the feeling of dizziness inside her head. She was lying in her bed! So her mother had found her after all, right? She must have taken her home!

The little girl's dream was shattered when her eyes adjusted to the light and she noticed her surroundings more clearly. She was in a pretty large room with tatami floor and rice paper slide doors. To her left was a large window and through it, she could look into a beautiful garden. Nothing about this room resembled her small but homely flat.

Toru remembered talking to the kind man, Akira, and she hopefully looked around. She expected to find him by her side but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He had promised to help her find her mother! She hoped, he hadn't forgotten about his promise.

The slide doors on the other side of the room opened but instead of Akira, a boy entered. He was by any chance a few years older than herself and slowly approaching her. Toru didn't remember anymore how to smile but she tried anyway. "Hello," she greeted quietly but in a still friendly way. The boy had reached the end of her makeshift bed and gazed down at her, his remarkably black eyes void of any emotion.

"Stop that." Confused, Toru closed her eyes. "Stop what?" she inquired and tried to smile again. "What you're doing with your face. It's ugly." She felt her cheeks heat up and a sad feeling tugged at her heart. "I'm… I'm only smiling," she whispered weakly but the boy only giggled. "You call that a smile?" He reached into the pockets of his hakama and pulled out a hand mirror. He gave it to her and the brown-haired girl quickly looked into it. Then she smiled.

"Do you understand now?" the boy gleefully said, "You look like you're about to cry." Now that he pointed out the truth, Toru put the mirror down. Her eyes were cast downwards. She felt as if a mean needle had pricked into her heart. Before she knew it, she really started to cry. Her teardrops were rolling down her cheeks and she could taste their salt. While Toru sniffled and wiped her face with the sleeves of her dress, she didn't saw the boy sitting down next to her, taking the mirror into his hand.

Suddenly, his small hand was at her chin, pulling her head up so that she looked into the mirror. Toru was so surprised that she completely forgot about the pain in her heart. She was even more surprised to see the boy hold the mirror that way so that both children could be seen in it. "I will show you, how to smile," he announced and then made an adorable, innocent smile appear on his lips. He turned to look at her. "It's your turn, you stupid girl."

For a last time, Toru sniffed and then looked at the mirror. She was going to try hard! This boy was going through the trouble of teaching her so she wouldn't disappoint him. Her brown eyes looked sternly at her own reflection and out of concentration; she had also stopped breathing without noticing. After a few seconds went by in which Toru continued to become redder and redder, she let her shoulders sink down and suck in a large breath. "I'm sorry," she started but was interrupted by the boy's laugh.

"Y-you were holding your breath," he laughed and dropped the mirror onto her legs, "I can't believe how stupid that was! Look at how red you are!" He continued to laugh his head off and even fell backwards, needing his arm to keep him from lying flat on his back. Although it was fun at her expense, Toru suddenly—without much force—found herself giggling softly. The boy looked simply as if he was truly enjoying the situation and that alone made Toru want to join him.

As soon as the giggle had left her mouth, the boy stopped laughing and instead stared at her. He then became really arrogant looking and told her in a snobby voice, "See, I knew you could smile." Toru continued to giggle and look at the boy. She felt so thankful that she reached out and took his hand in her own. To her surprise, the boy was blushing when their hands made contact. He didn't meet her eyes when he muttered, "But it's still not pretty."

Afterwards, he told her that his name was "Sohma, Akito" and that she was allowed to call him "Akito-kun". The way he said that, Toru felt that she had to be incredibly thankful for that, too, because the woman that had brought tea had to call him "Akito-sama". Akito was keeping her company for what felt like half a day before he stood up, patted her head and told her to wait for him until he came back.

Toru continued to look at the closed door even after Akito had long closed it. She liked his company although he was being harsh and quit mean at times; he made her feel like she could still have fun.

The little girl also rose up and went to the window. When she looked out of it, she actually saw Akito. He was walking through the garden and behind him was an older boy with black hair. The older boy was also very pretty, just like Akito, and he held the younger boy's hand while displaying something akin to a "mischievous look" on his face. 'Maybe he is Akito-kun's brother," Toru thought and watched enviously as they strolled through the garden and ultimately left her eyesight. She wanted to go home!

When Toru heard the door slide open, she turned and saw another pretty boy coming into the room. He looked as old as the boy walking with Akito. He looked calm and serious with parts of his jet black hair falling into his face and pale eyes that were gazing at her without saying anything. "Hello Toru-chan. My name is Sohma, Hatori." Toru remembered the smiling lessons she had received and imitated what Akito called "an innocent smile". "Hello, Hatori-kun! It's nice to meet you. I'm Honda, Toru." She bowed her head.

Hatori answered her introduction with a slight smile. Then, he held out his hand for her to take. "I am going to take you to Akira-sama." Curiously looking, Toru trustingly took the older boy's hand. "Why isn't he coming to me?" she asked innocently and continued to smile at Hatori who was walking extra slow for the still weakened girl. "He also became a bit sick when he was outside in the rain." Toru was shocked, to say the least. "What? Oh no, that is my entire fault…" She immediately teared up.

"Not, it isn't," Hatori replied carefully but didn't stop walking to calm her down properly, "He is simply sensitive to the cold and easily falls ill." After that, no more words were exchanged until they reached a large door to an even larger room than the one in which Toru had awakened. "Is this Akira-san's room?" the little girl whispered to her momentary guardian and the boy nodded before he slid open the doors and pulled Toru into the room along with him.

He deeply bowed and knelt down. Toru copied his action to not make a mistake and then saw Akira sitting on the futon in front of them, covered by a thin blanket around his shoulders. "Hello, Toru-chan. Do you feel better?" Akira asked gently and petted the space next to him. Toru peeked at Hatori but he was looking at the gentle man. The little girl went to her rescuer and sat beside him.

"I promised to find your mother, didn't I, Toru-chan?" Happily, Toru clasped her hands under her chin. "Yes! Did you find her? Can I go home?" Again, she was on the edge of crying, this time out of relieve. But Akira's answer was not what the brown-haired girl had hoped for. "Actually… I haven't found your mother _yet_ but I have found some clues on where I will be searching for her. Do you have any relatives where you can stay until I find your mother?" The happiness dripped away from her as if it had been washed off.

Uncomfortably, the girl nibbled at her bottom lip. She remembered all too well what mean things the relatives of her father had been saying to her at her father's funeral. She didn't want to go to these people! She would love to see her grandpa but he was living with his daughter (her aunt) and she was one of the meanest people on earth. "No, I don't have any," Toru replied sadly and nervously because she was a bad liar and she didn't want Akira to pick up on her lies.

If the man had noticed Toru's lies, he wasn't about to say something about them. Instead, he kindly stroked over her hair and smiled down at her. "Then you will stay here until I find your mother. Is this acceptable?" Toru smiled and crossed her hands over her chest. "I am very grateful, thank you so much!" A small and quiet giggle escaped her and for a few more seconds, Akira simply continued to stroke her hair.

"Hatori, please take Toru-chan back to her room. Keep her company until further notice." The instruction was kindly given but Toru still felt it to be strange that Akira was practically ordering the boy to spend time with her. That was too much to ask for! "I'm so sorry," she interrupted hastily with reddened cheeks, "Hatori-kun doesn't have to spent time with me if he doesn't want to!" Akira looked surprised for a second. "It is nice to say that, Toru-chan, but you are still not completely healthy and you need someone to watch over you."

The time until dinner was served in her room was actually a good one. Toru was too troubled to ask Hatori questions or beg him to play with her, so she simply lied down and watched him reading a book or went to the window to look at the garden.

When the maid silently served dinner to the both of them, Hatori surprised Toru by raising his voice to speak to her. "You are very quiet." The little girl almost let her chopsticks fall down but she got a hold on herself. "Y-yes, I am sorry but you seem to be a quiet person yourself so I assumed you wouldn't like to play with me." She looked down at her rice. "Also, Akito-kun said that it isn't becoming for a girl to be nosy or annoying."

Hatori looked genuinely surprised. 'For a little girl, she surely observes closely,' he thought and at her mention of Akito he asked, "How did you meet Akito-sama?" The girl suddenly lighted up visibly and cheerily told him how the boy came into her room to keep her company. She left out how he taught her how to smile because that was embarrassing. It had been a while that Toru had been able to eat dinner with someone that talked and reacted to the things she said and she wasn't about to chase Hatori away with silly stories how she learned smiling.

The older boy smiled at her and then continued to eat. Again, Toru copied him and started eating as well. They had their meal in silence and the two were also silent when the maid cleared the table and took away the dishes. After the maid left, Hatori settled back down, his book in front of him. This time, Toru decided to join him and sat down next to the black-haired boy. "What are you reading, Hatori-kun?" the girl wanted to know and tried to catch a glimpse of the book cover. "It's actually a book of different fairytales," Hatori hesitantly answered and if Toru hadn't been occupied with happily looking at the written lines, she would have noticed how Hatori's cheeks reddened a little bit.

Seeing how enthusiastically his little companion was reacting to the option of fairytales, Hatori was somehow finding the urge within himself to make this miserable day a little bit happier for her. "Maybe I could read one to you?"

With something alike to glitter in her brown eyes, the girl looked at him and frequently nodded her head. "That would be wonderful, Hatori-kun! Thank you so much!" He simply nodded and started to flick through the book. "Is there a specific one you would like to hear?" he wanted to know and prepared himself for "Cinderella". Toru wanted to answer but the doors were opened and Akito walked in. He stopped when he spotted Hatori. "What is Hatori doing here?" the boy wanted to know immediately and crossed his arms over his chest, an unsatisfied look on his face. He actually looked kind of angry as Toru noticed.

"Hatori-kun was going to read a fairytale to me, Akito-kun! Do you want to stay and listen?" She was so full of enjoy of having both Hatori and Akito there for company and she outright shone with happiness. Akito noticed this change and became angrier. How dare Hatori to improve the happiness of this girl? He was going to make her feel better and not the dragon. The boy wanted to decline when Toru jumped up, came over and pulled him to the table they were sitting at. She held his hand tightly and didn't let go although they were already sitting.

Since he was already in a seating position, Akito was too… lazy to get up and leave so he decided to stay. "Alright, I'll listen to a stupid fairytale. Which one are we going to hear, Toru?" He looked at her with his black eyes that always seemed to tease her. She stared at him, not being able to look away. "Toru-chan hasn't decided yet," Hatori answered for the girl who startled and turned her eyes to the older boy. "I'm sorry! I would like to hear the fairytale of the Zodiac's animals!"

The temperature seemed to drop to a freezing level. Hatori was staring at her with a curious look in his eyes while Akito pushed her hand away from his. "You idiot," he scolded with a frown on his face, "Don't you know that the tale of the Zodiac is _not _a fairytale?" Akito looked at Hatori and all of a sudden the boy seemed to age at least ten years. A dark and haunted look crept into his face. "It's a horror story."

The dragon moved his eyes away from his God and looked at the book. He was feeling sick.

"Okay! My mother always told me the story and it wasn't scary at all. But if you don't like it, Akito-kun, let's listen to Cinderella!" Toru cheerfully clapped her hands, oblivious to the interaction between her male companions. "That's a fairytale," Akito praised mockingly but didn't mind her to take his hand again.

***

For days, life for Toru was like this; she would have breakfast with Akito and then she would wander off with her friend who showed her the large Sohma estate or played a game with her (while making fun of her all the time). If Akito hadn't been able to have breakfast with her, Toru would eat alone in her room. Although it was really just her, it didn't feel like the times at her flat when her mother had disappeared over night and left her behind; instead, it felt peaceful. Birds were chirping in the garden in front of her window and the morning sun would always fell in her room.

After either spending the morning alone or with Akito, she would have lunch (always alone) and then spent the afternoon with Hatori (sometimes, Akito would pop in and out, too). The quiet teen would read a story to her, teach her chess or simply walked with her in the garden. When they were outside of her room, he always held her hand. Sometimes the little girl wondered if it wasn't because he actually liked to hold it but to make sure she wasn't going somewhere where she wasn't allowed to.

After her first morning, Toru had also not seen the boy again with whom Akito had been strolling around. When she had asked her dark-haired friend about him, he had become incredibly angry, slapping his hand on the table and almost screaming at her. "This lazy idiot mustn't interest you," he had shouted and turned red at the same time, "He is a good-for-nothing piece of crap!"

Quivering, the little girl had looked at Akito with fear in her eyes—why was he becoming so angry with her? Since she hadn't known what else to do, Toru had stuttered, "Y-yes, Akito-kun," and frequently nodded. The slightly older boy seemingly had been soothed by her answer because he had calmed down and they had continued to fold papers into flowers.

Toru learned to never ask about other people than Akira and Hatori since Akito became even angrier when she asked a second time. Although it had been about a grey-haired boy she had seen walking through the garden, his anger hadn't been any lesser. She had even feared that her friend would slap her but he didn't.

Life went on like this for about three weeks. Three very long weeks in which Toru had fun—that much she would admit—but also learned to not think about things that would make her sad. So she simply ignored everything related to her mother and instead concentrated on making smiley faces for Akito.

It was a very sunny and warm day, when Akira came into her room. It was the first time that he did that and it was very surprising and alarming at the same time. Akito and Toru would stop drawing on their large picture and Hatori immediately put his book down. "I have good news, Toru-chan," he announced, with a tiny bit of pride in his voice, "A very large surprise is heading here." The girl laughed happily. "A surprise? Yay! What is it? What is it?" Akira came to sit down with them at the table and smiled. "You just have to wait for a few more minutes."

If Toru had been older, she might have caught up on the fact that it could only have been her mother coming. But since she was only five years old, she screamed in delight as the doors were thrown open and her mother rushed in. Honda Kyoko's orange hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, her clothes looked as if they hadn't been washed for a while and she looked very tired… but she still threw her arms around her daughter, squealing.

"Oh my God, Toru! I'm so sorry! So, so, so sorry!" Kyoko cried and nearly hugged Toru to death. The brown-haired girl laughed, cried and was relieved at the same time. "It's okay, Mom! It's okay. Because you came to pick me up!"

After their reunion, Toru picked up the two other kimonos she got from Akira as a present and said her goodbyes.

Akito looked reluctant to hug her but did so nonetheless. "You will come to visit me, right?" he asked and looked her sternly in the eyes, "You won't forget me or leave me behind, okay? You will always love me." Toru smiled and held out her pinky finger. "I promise, Akito-kun! I'll never forget you, I'll always love you and I'll always visit you! Pinky swear." He hooked his pinky finger with hers and although he slightly blushed, he still looked concerned. "If you break it, I will prick you with 1000 needles," he answered quietly. 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket and I don't earn money with this.

Hello everyone!

I'm glad you made it through this chapter. This fanfiction plot has been ghosting around my mind for a few years now and I'm glad, I'm able to put it down. You should also know that English is not my mother tongue and that I'm writing this for the enjoyment it gives me! I hope you can find your share of enjoy in this, too.  
Differences between the manga plot of Fruits Basket and this fanfiction:

* Akito is and will remain a guy * AkitoToru pairing (if I have a say about it) * Toru's mother had a more severe case of depression which caused her to neglect Toru more which caused her daughter to be that desperate to leave home

Maybe there will be more differences to come up while the story continues; I'll make sure to let you know.  
So until next time, guys!

XOXO Padlock


	2. Riceballs of Doom

**Chapter 2: **Riceballs of Doom 

Toru lifted her cover into the air. She folded it in the middle and placed it neatly on herbed. The 16-year-old looked satisfied at her now made bed and smiled happily. She simply loved to tidy up her room. Well, house chores in general. She was so lucky that neither of her three housemates was any good at these things or maybe she couldn't have used it as a payback for her stay here. The brown-haired girl pulled the top of her pajama over her head and slipped out of the matching pants. She tossed them into the linen chest next to her bed and moved through her closet to dress herself.

The school uniform was fitting as snuggly as always and she pulled out her brush from a drawer. Toru hummed softly while she de-tangled her hair and was thinking about which bow she would like to wear today. When she decided, a blue one would be perfect, a knock on her door made her turn around. "Yo, Toru!" Kyo entered the room and looked grumpily at her. "You are kinda late if you still want to make breakfast or lunch boxes or whatever." He brushed through his hair with his finger while looking at her.

"What? Oh no!" Toru exclaimed and looked at her watch, "I forgot the time! I'm so sorry, Kyo-kun, I will be starting breakfast in the next five minutes!" Before Kyo could reply, Toru hurriedly tied the bow at the back of her head, grabbed her school bag and moved past Kyo, brushing against his arm while passing. She didn't see him back away from the touch or blushing slightly.

When the girl—humming softly—skipped through the kitchen door, she was surprised to see a still sleepy Yuki standing in front of the kettle. "Good morning, Sohma-kun! Did you sleep well?" Yuki turned his head towards her, his eyes full of sleepiness. "Good morning, Honda-san," he muttered under his breath and turned to look at the kettle again.

'He is so cute when he's not fully awake yet,' Toru gushed in her mind and started to prepare breakfast. Kyo peaked into the kitchen and when he saw Yuki standing there drowsily, he couldn't resist the urge to wake him up. "You stupid rat," he called, "Is all you can do stand stupidly next to Toru while she's working? If you're no use then go back to bed where I won't have to see your-"The punch of the rat skillfully ended the cat's sentence and sent him spiraling backwards onto the table in the living room.

Kyo moaned heavily and Toru was by his side in a matter of mere seconds. "Oh my God, Kyo-kun, are you alright? Do you hear me?" The girl was almost screaming at the boy who stared at her through narrowed eyes. His one hand was covering his nose while the other was clenched into a fist. "Yes, I hear you so stop screaming at me, God dammit!"

Toru backed away slightly and wanted to support him but he swatted away her hands. "I'm alright," he grunted and looked away from her face. "If you say so," she replied uncertainly and looked to Yuki who was watching them with a knowing look in his eyes. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I fear that we have to go without breakfast." He pointed to the clock. "It's almost half past seven."

Both Toru and Kyo looked at Yuki—Kyo angrily and Toru seemed to be shocked. "Oh no! But I didn't make lunch boxes yet." The rat smiled charmingly and said, "Please don't worry, Honda-san, we'll simply have to buy lunch today. I'll be gladly treating you."

Toru slightly blushed and nodded and the three of them put on their shoes and jackets and left the house.

When it was lunch time, Yuki slowly approached Toru's table and smiled at her, Hanajima and Votani who were standing next to their friend. "Hey, Honda-san," Yuki greeted the girl and she smiled happily at him, "Are you ready?" Votani looked at the grey-haired boy and smirked. "Oh, is your highness treating you to lunch, today, Toru?" Her smirk got even wider as she moved to lightly punch Yuki's shoulder. "You have our allowance," she announced and Hanajima nodded while licking her lollipop.

Toru stood up and started to head for the door. "Then let's go, Sohma-kun!" Feeling that Toru's two friends were giving this lunch far too much meaning, he followed her and they went to the cafeteria. He bought them both sweet and spicy bread and orange juice. "Do you want to eat outside?" Yuki wanted to know and wished, she said yes. It was rather sunny and warm outside and the sky was a fabulous shade of baby blue.

"Yeah, I'd really like that," Toru answered and they found a quiet place under a tree behind the school building. "Are you excited for the school's culture festival tomorrow?" the girl asked and took a bite of her curry bread. "I feel like it has been yesterday that we decided to sell riceballs!" Yuki laughed quietly at her words. "That's because it was yesterday that we decided that," he pointed out and saw her blush immediately.

For a moment, they ate in silence, listening to a few birds chirp and the far away chatter of their school mates. "Yes," the boy on her side suddenly said and Toru was so startled that she almost let her bread fall to the ground. "Yes what?" she wanted to know and looked at him. "Yes, I am excited," Yuki confessed and gazed at his bread in thought, "I really like doing things with everyone. And this time, it actually feels like I'm a real part of the class." She had the feeling that he wanted to say more, so she stayed silent and munched on her bread. "Every other time, I always felt as if I stood on the other side of an invisible wall. I wasn't really part of the event, I was simply observing."

He leaned against her so that their shoulders were touching. "I think, it's thanks to you that I'm able to experience this."

The brown-haired girl stretched out her arm and grabbed his hand. "No, Sohma-kun, it has been your doing. What became different is your thinking. I was simply lucky enough to witness it." Toru grinned stupidly and then turned to look at the sky. "It's really nice to sit here like this," she chimed and held his hand for a bit longer than she needed to, "I hope the weather is just as nice tomorrow!"

***

Akito lazily sat in front of his favorite window. Toru had been visiting for the last two hours and she had made pancakes for him. While he had coughed and sneezed, she had chatted about the up-coming culture festival at her school and how she wished that he could come. But ever since their fateful meeting, Akito had made it clear that he would _never ever_ go to her stupid festivals, weather it was her stupid elementary or high school.

As usual, she had looked at him with those kind brown eyes and nodded. He found it actually hard to believe that she liked him that much that she still didn't mind his lashing out at her… but it seemed to be true. Sometimes, he was being mean to her on purpose to see how she would react. Most of the times, she smiled his words away.

The head of the family turned away from the pretty sunlight and walked through his room until he could let himself fall down on his bed. He most of the time wished that Toru would be with him more often than her two to three visits every week. It wasn't that he _liked_ her or anything but she simply belonged to him. So why shouldn't a person who was his—and his alone—move in with him? He had enough space and he had enough money to be able to tolerate her existence within the main house. But for some reason, Toru had declined politely and looked as surprised as if he had proposed to her. After her mother had passed away a year or so ago, Akito had wanted to be kind. He had felt that it was a good decision to present Toru with his generous invitation but he hadn't thought for one second that she would deny it.

Pondering why she could have said no, Akito turned and rolled on his stomach. Maybe it was better that she wasn't living here because then, sooner or later, one of the stupid animals beside Hatori would have noticed her. And he wouldn't let them get involved with her. Although they both belonged with him, the stupid animals and Toru weren't meant to mingle. So yeah, maybe it was for the better.

Then why the hell wasn't he satisfied with this answer?

The doors to his room were slid open and Hatori entered. Akito looked at him, a slick smile plastered on his lips while he sat up and opened his arms for the man to hug him. Compared to his times as a teenager, the dragon had grown. He was more than one head taller than Akito himself. His shoulders were broad and all in all, one was safe to call him handsome. 'Of course,' Akito thought satisfied, 'That I blinded his left eye gave him a mysterious side to his looks.'

"How are you feeling today, Akito-sama?" the doctor asked and felt if his God still had a high temperature. "Good," Akito clipped, "Except for all the coughing and all the sneezing… Oh, and my head is hurting. Do something about this!" The black-haired man nodded faithfully and pulled out a clinical thermometer. "Toru was here, right? You know you could have infected her with your cold." The younger male pushed Hatori's hand away which had been holding the thermometer. "Well, she wants to visit and it's not my problem if she infects herself."

Hatori thought for a moment that Akito looked as if he pouted but he wouldn't dare to voice his observation. He got the flyer out of his pocket and showed it to Akito. "Kyo and Yuki have a cultural festival at their school tomorrow. I would ask you if you wanted to go but you can't leave the house." For a moment, Akito looked as if he wanted to go, simply to anger his doctor. Then he lied back down at looked at the ceiling. "If you say so, Hatori… I didn't want to go anyway." The thermometer beeped and Akito pulled it out from under his arm.

"What's up with high schools these days by the way? Why are they all having culture festivals at the same day?" The dark eyes of the God moved to gaze at the dragon who knelt by his side. "Toru's having one tomorrow, too." Hatori wisely kept what he thought about that to himself. It was pretty unlikely for two high schools to have their culture festival at the same time… unless Kyo, Yuki and Toru were at the same school.

Later that evening, Hatori was sitting in his office at the main house. He was going over Akito's blood data and analyzing it. It was about half past eight and he didn't have dinner yet. Maybe sometimes these days, he would simply work himself to death.

While he was wondering how much work Akito could make him do, his mobile phone went off and the ringtone sounded loudly through the air. He picked it up and pressed the green button to accept the call. "Hello?" he muttered and perked up when he heard Toru's voice answer. "Good evening, Hatori-kun! I hope I'm not interrupting your work?" He wondered how well she actually knew him because she would know that he was still working although most people would have gone home to eat dinner.

"No, it's fine," he answered and was really glad about the disturbance. He wouldn't mind anything that took his mind away from work. "How I can help you?" She called him from time to time to make sure he was fine or when she wanted to do something special with Akito like going on a picnic but she usually didn't call this late. "I was visiting Akito today," she told him and he could hear that she was smiling, "And I forgot my scarf."

Now that she said it—Hatori remembered himself seeing the piece of dark red material lying in a corner of Akito's room. He had wondered what a woman's scarf was doing there but forgot to ask his God about it. "Yeah, I saw it when I checked on him." He heard her giggle and found himself smiling along with it. "I would very much like to pick it up and chat with you for a little bit but I have my school's culture festival tomorrow." His hand was pulling out the flyer that Momiji had given him. Should he ask her about this?

"Hatori-kun?" The black-haired man snapped out of his thoughts and answered, "Hm. I will be at the Kaibara high school tomorrow at twelve o'clock; we can meet at the front gates, is that alright?" Would she now tell him that that was also her school? Her voice sounded hesitantly when she said, "Kaibara High? That is-"

"Toruuu-kun? When will you be making dinner?" a voice whined from the background and Hatori was shocked to say the least. Another black-haired man was immediately coming to his mind—Shigure. But that couldn't be because Toru was living with relatives of her. She had made sure to convince Akito that it was better for her to stay with her relatives when her mother had passed away. That was what she said and she wasn't someone to easily lie. Right?

But he couldn't let this go easily. "Who was that?" he asked and tried to sound as unconcerned as possible. "My uncle," she replied, laughing a little bit, "He is always so impatient for dinner! Anyway, you should stop working and eat now, too, Hatori-kun! I'll be seeing you tomorrow!" And with those words, Toru hung up and there was only silence which was lying heavily against Hatori's ear. Something wasn't right, he knew it, but he couldn't quit lay his finger on it. He continued to look at Akito's blood data but the nagging feeling never left him.

***

"Oh my God, Sohma-kun! This is wonderful! Look at the classroom." Toru looked as if heaven itself came down to earth and was displayed right before her eyes. "You made wonderful riceballs," Yuki complimented his friend who turned beet red at his praise and looked down. "Oh, no, it really isn't anything special…" Her voice turned meek at the end and Votani and Hanajima appeared from out of nowhere.

Votani wiggled her eyebrows at the prince of Kaibara high with a knowing look in her eyes. "Hana-chan, can you believe your eyes?" she asked and slung an arm around the still red Toru, "Our dear prince is making Toru blush! How adorable!" Hanajma smiled at Yuki but he felt uneasy while she did that. It wasn't that he didn't like the black-haired girl but she somehow made him feel uneasy. Found out.

A crash from the other end of the classroom pulled the attention of the small group to the things that happened there and Toru scurried over to her classmates, excusing herself with an apologizing look. The table on which they had presented the riceballs had partly collapsed and the brown-haired girl bent to pick up a few plastic plates which had fallen to the floor. She patiently picked them up one by one and moved to the right to throw them away. You couldn't expect anyone to eat from a plate that had been lying on the floor, right? Kyo was working with a hammer in his hand, making sure the table remained standing safely.

It was then that a hand curled around her shoulder in a familiar way and when she turned around, she looked at the pale eyes of Hatori. For some reason, she noticed, he looked much more sternly and concerned than usual and she titled her head in confusion. "Hatori-kun," she greeted happily and took his hand in hers. It was her way to greet him because he told her a long time ago that he wasn't one for a close display of affection. "It's not 12 o'clock yet! How did you find me?" Her smile turned soft when she reached for a riceball from behind her and presented it to him. "I made these riceballs! I'm sure you'd enjoy them. Please try it!"

Another hand came out of nowhere, grabbed her elbow and pulled her back forcefully. "Hatori," Kyo grunted and stared at the man almost hatefully, "What the hell are you doing here? Are you about to erase Toru's memories?" Confused, Toru looked at her orange-haired friend. Did they know each other? "Oh, do you-" Her question was interrupted by the cat, who slightly pushed her behind him. "He's one of us, Toru," he grunted and looked at her over his shoulder. "He also erases the memories of people who found out about the curse."

Toru remembered Yuki telling her of how he lost his first friends at a very young age but surely the person who had made Yuki suffer that experience hadn't been Hatori? And moreover, Hatori was supposed to be one of the animals? She would have never thought that "her" three housemates and Hatori were even related! Her brown eyes stared hard at the black-haired man. "You are also a part of the Zodiac?" she asked meekly and didn't really know what to make of this. Maybe she had misunderstood. He nodded.

What should she do now? How should she behave? And more importantly—how should she explain to Akito that she was not living with relatives but with people who he had strictly forbidden? 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket and I don't earn money with this. (Yeah, don't believe anyone would pay for this…. :D)

Hello and welcome back to the second chapter! So, Toru, Akito & Hatori have kept contact over the looong time of a little bit more than 10 years. I guess one could have figured that Toru wasn't about to escape Akito's wrath… I mean friendship. As you might have already noticed, this takes place at the festival where Momiji and Hatori meet Toru for the first time! (And do not worry about Momiji, he's coming. Soon.)

Question for me/you guys/the next chapter: How the hell will Toru manage to explain things to Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, Hatori and most importantly—AKITO? (Different formulation: How will she avoid being thrown out Akito's window after he found out that she has been lying to him?)

New Differences to the manga:

None so far!

XOXO Padlock


	3. Confused and Frozen

**Chapter 3: **Confused and Frozen

Toru stared at Hatori. Her brown eyes were mainly focused on him-what else could she think about? Ever since she had been this small child that had been neglected by her mother... Hatori had been a person who had cared, who had been interested in her life... But the only feeling that the teenage girl now felt was a mean kind of betrayal. An evil feeling that bit into her heart and let it ache.

"Oi, Toru, do you hear what I'm saying?" Kyo had turned around and was shaking her by her shoulders. "i said that I am going to protect you, ok?" She heard what Kyo was saying and she wanted to thank him but there was nothing to protect her from! There was only Hatori. Hatori who was apparently not the person that she had seen in him and who looked at her as if he had never seen her before... How should she behave now? How?

And because of all this, because of all her feelings, Toru did the only reasonable thing that she could think of-she fled the room. With a shaky voice she said, "I have to look after the other riceballs," and bolted towards the door. Her move was so un-Toru-ish that neither of the males reacted fast enough to stop her and so the girl disappeared. After wandering the halls aimlessly, Toru found herself sitting under the very same tree which had accompanied Yuki and herself at lunch time. This was all too much for her to take in at once. She definitely needed to clear her head and the first step to that would be to analyse the situation, or rather, the people who were involved. Yeah, that sounded like a really good way to start.

Toru leaned against the tree and gazed into the still marvelous sky. The person in the middle of this messy situation, who now hopefully knew everything, was unfortunately herself. She didn't value herself all that much but somehow she still got to be in the middle. If she thought hard enough about it, she could split all the people she were close to into three categories.

The first category was pretty easy... The only people in it were Vo and Hana because they had nothing to do with her little 'Sohma'-problem and she couldn't even talk to them about this. The secret was hard enough on herself and she wouldn't want to burden her two best friends with it. On another thought, it also wasn't her place to decide who was to be let it on the whole matter. No, the teenage girl would have to deal with this without the help of her two best female friends.

'Anyway', Toru reminded herself, 'You need to concentrate on the actual matter!' It was not easy for her to keep her mind from imagining how it would be to share the stress with Vo and Hana. But it was no use—she just couldn't bend Akito's rules more than she had already done.

The brown-haired girl pulled her legs against her chest and rested her chin on the top of her knees. The second category would be called 'Akito' because all the people in this category listened and answered to him. (And only to him as ´he loved to remind her often enough.) On top of his obvious dominant character, he in fact was the leader of the family and therefore controlled everyone. Or at least that was what Toru imagined. Hatori would be in this, too, as well as the servants and the only two other relatives she had briefly met.

After she so carefully created the two first categories, there weren't much people left. She wasn't very out-going (there was no use denying that) and one didn't need to guess much to know that only Shigure, Kyo and Yuki Sohma remained. They were the third category and she felt her heart speed up again when she thought about the trouble she might cause them in the near future.

Toru breathed in slowly—she needed to calm herself down or else she would collapse right here under the pretty tree. The next thing would be to eventually figure out who knew what.

She, for example, had the slight feeling that she had known _nothing_ the entire time until fate let her move into Shigure's house and even then everyone had still lied. In fact, Toru had the feeling that no one was being honest at all. Not only was nobody telling _her_ the truth, they were also all lying to each other. Nothing good would come out of this, she was very sure of that. Maybe it was time to change... Anyway-she would start with Akito.

Her friend (that was what she liked to call him) seemed to not know that she specifically lived at Shigure's house. He obviously had been told by Shigure that a stranger girl was staying with the three guys but he didn't know the name or else he would have been incredibly mad with her. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat out of fear when she thought about the reaction this situation would get her from Akito; once she told him the truth. Toru could only hope that he would listen to her explanations...

Well, Akito obviously also had to know about the curse. Now that she knew about it, too, Toru suddenly remembered that she had always found it strange that Akito would have given his relatives nicknames such as 'dog', 'rat' or 'dragon'. If he had referred to them as their zodiac curse animal, things definitely cleared up and made a lot more sense. As head of the family, of course he would know about their most important secret. Really, how stupid had she been? Though she hadn't even known that Shigure, Yuki and Kyo were related to Akito and Hatori… The teenage girl hadn't really thought that 'Sohma' was such a rare name that it would automatically point out the connection between totally different looking people.

Because honestly, there wasn't a single feature that made the Sohmas look alike. Despite their obvious handsomeness, of course.

Okay, so far, so good. Despite having cleared up the fact that Akito didn't come over to tear her to tiny pieces, there was one thing that didn't sit right with her. Although the black-haired male didn't seem to be a part of the curse, he was awfully possessive of the twelve animals. He had bend his rules of secluding her from his family before but never had she met one of the people he addressed with animal names (despite Hatori). So the question was—was Akito the mere family head or something special? She knew she would never manage to find out by herself without asking him directly and she decided that she would rather clean the whole house three times before doing so.

Another most urgent question in Toru's head right now was if she actually _could_ be upset with Akito for not telling her about the curse. She wasn't exactly a part of the Sohma's inner circle (or any part of the family at all) and you didn't let strangers in onto your family secret without consulting everyone else. Maybe the zodiac animals didn't want her to know? Then again, if Akito had asked them, he would have mentioned her in detail to the others and Yuki, Kyo or Shigure would have recognized her from the description, right?

It didn't matter how she twisted it, she couldn't bring herself to be angry with the boy she cared about so much. On the other hand, she couldn't possibly be angry with Kyo or Yuki for not describing in detail how their family head looked like so that she could make the connection between her friends.

Maybe ... Maybe if she hadn't lied to Akito and Hatori about where she would stay, then maybe she could have avoided creating this much trouble for Akito and-

"Oh mein Gott! There you are, Toru! I have been looking all over the school for you!" Two inches apart from her face was a young boy with blonde hair and honey brown eyes. He grinned all over his adorable face and radiated happiness. It took the teenager girl a moment to get out of her thoughts and register the face of the boy in front of her. Of course, when she did so, she backed off and pressed herself against the tree behind her.

The boy looked full of sorry, when he straightened and bit on his bottom lip. "Tut mir leid," he muttered heartbreakingly sad but Toru couldn't understand a single word he was saying. "E-excuse me?" she stuttered high-pitched and felt herself slowly turning redder by any second. "Oops! I'm really sorry for scaring you," the boy explained but turned back from sad to happy after he finished, "However, I'm really glad to see you again!" The brown-haired girl titled her head. "Oh, I'm so sorry but where have I met you before...? I'm so rude but I really can't remember right now..." Again, her face felt like a tomato-how mean of her to forget an encounter with such a cute boy!

Fortunately, he didn't seem to think of her as rude. Instead, he took her head in his and giggled lightly. "It was at your workplace! The building belongs to my papa and I often play there!" He suddenly looked around, taking in the small green space of grass, the bench and the tree and exclaimed, "You have a very nice classroom! Are all of this school's classrooms this nice?" The boy gave her a toothy grin, all the time holding her hand. It was so embarrassing that Toru hadn't even the guts to look him straight into the eyes. "T-this is not my classroom," she tried to explain but was interrupted by the blonde boy who whisked her to her feet, pointed towards the back entrance and shouted, "Then we shall wander to it!"

When the pair arrived at the classroom, the room was still crowded but almost everyone was gathered at a corner at the back of the room. Sohma, Momiji-as the boy had introduced himself as-pulled Toru over to the crowd excitedly. The girl continued to look through the room in hope of seeing Hatori standing there and waiting for her but he either wasn't present or inside the crowd of cheering high scholars.

Momiji moved easily through the pupils and managed to squeeze his companion through all the people as well. After what felt like a real battle of tugging and pushing their way, the thing that everyone was looking at, was kind of terrifying her. It was Yuki. In a far too girly and far too cute piece of clothing that looked unfortunately like a dress. It was pastel pink with white silky frills along the hems. The most awful thing was that Yuki still managed to awoke the wish to cuddle him to death.

"Sohma-kun," Toru called out and smiled at the boy who immediately looked up and caught her eyes. He blushed heavily and wanted to say something, but suddenly, Hatori was by her side and started pulling her out of the crowd. She immediately lost sight of Momiji and also of Yuki. It wasn't that she didn't trust Hatori (although that trust had been shaken heavily); she didn't want to leave the two boys and Kyo behind like that. "Where are we going?" she asked nervously as Hatori led her out of the room into the hallway and around another corner until most of the students were elsewhere and they were almost alone.

The tall man looked down at the girl with his healthy eye. He looked as if not sure what to say. For a few moments they only looked each other in the eyes-he thinking about what to say, she being not sure if she wanted to hear anything of it. Hatori finally decided to not beat around the bush and directly address the matter. "What are you going to do?" Toru didn't answer straight away; for a while, she continued to look at him, void of any emotion on her face which was highly unlikely for her. He started to wonder just how much her trust had been shaken, when she let out a dry sob.

"I don't know," she whimpered and hid her eyes behind her hands, "he is going to be so mad ... and ... and ... I didn't even know that I was making a mistake!" Her voice was unsteady and she spoke so fast that she almost stumbled about the words. The black-haired man could only stare at her while she rambled on. "I mean, it was really hard for us to cope with the accident with your eye and I don't know how he will react." A tear slipped down her cheek when she removed her hands to send him an almost frightened glance. "He only had one wish."

In his mind, Hatori thought that the girl in front of him was too good to be true. He knew that Akito had uttered far more than one wish over the years and Toru had worked to grant them all. The family head had grudgingly agreed Hatori to keep contact with Toru and although that should have been normal, she had taken it as a gift. The dragon took her scarf, which had been stuffed into his pocket and slung it around her shoulders.

The soft material slid over her cheek and she instinctively reached to pet it. "I have an idea," he finally told her when her quiet sobs had faded, "I'll come to Shigure's place tomorrow and we'll work on a plane to approach him. The ... accident won't repeat itself-you are too important to him." Her not quit understanding eyes looked at him. She was puzzled. "It is not that I fear for myself," she insisted heavily while taking a hold of both his hands, "It is because I fear for Shigure, Yuki and Kyo... He will most likely not-

"Toru!" Somebody slammed into Toru, knocking her over and pushing her hard onto the ground. A sudden puff and a lot of smoke made her cough heavily. The smoke vanished slowly and revealed … a white bunny, pressed snugly against her chest and looking up at her with wide black eyes. His adorable pink nose was quivering as it sniffed the air.

Hatori's eyes narrowed at a frown established itself on his forehead. He gave off an annoyed feeling and gritted his teeth visibly. "Momiji… What do you think you are doing?" As soon as Hatori had finished, loud steps started to echo through the otherwise empty hallway. The next moment, Yuki and Kyo were sliding around the corner, looking as if hell had broken loose. Although their glares seemed not as vicious when one considered the fact that the grey haired boy was still wearing that ridiculous dress.

"Hatori! Don't you dare lay your dirty fingers on her!" Kyo yelled angrily and looked ready to test his martial arts skills on the doctor by punching him square in the face. Yuki didn't waste a second. He whizzed past the tall man, crouched down next to the girl and regarded her with a gentle but worried look on his face. His dark eyes seemed to ask question after question as he laid a hand on her shoulder carefully, almost hesitantly. His lips were pulled into a tight smile.

The brown-haired girl was heavily touched—all this friendship and gentleness that those two boys gave her … It was heartbreakingly sweet and she loved them for it. "Are you alright, Honda-san?" Yuki's question stopped her eyes from watering and she made her lips perform a sweet smile. Toru found herself blushing faintly and pulling the bunny even closer to her chest, completely forgetting that it was not a plush toy but a Sohma boy she was pressing into her chest.

"Oh, yes, Sohma-kun, I'm perfectly fine, thank you." She continued to smile genuinely at him and after a few seconds of observing, his tight-lipped smile became softer until it became soft.

The orange-haired cat suddenly appeared in front of her and before she could muster up the courage to say anything, the boy grabbed the bunny and pulled it out of her arms despite its heavy squeaking. Toru was almost surprise when it suddenly made very human whailing sounds but then again she hadn't had the opportunity to thoroughly acquaint herself with Momiji's animal form yet. And that was a shame, really, because he was so cute!

Momiji continued to whaile until he eventually decided to switch to a high-pitched whine directed at his captor. "No, Kyo, you big fat meanie! I want to stay with Toru! You are so evil!" The white animal squirmed and moved around in Kyo's iron-hard grip but there was no escape. The cat started to shake the bunny until Momiji's loud voice faded to a quiet pouting about the unfairness of it all.

The teenage girl unsteadily stood up and smiled gratefully at Yuki, who she leaned heavily on. "Stop it, Kyo-kun, you're hurting him!" she pleaded and stretched out her arms as if to take the bunny back in her arms. Kyo held it further away. "Are you stupid? This is Momiji who was pressed up against your chest. And this is actually _Hatori _who _erases_ memories!" His free hand pointed towards the silent man to his left. "Why are you even here? Are you dumb? Confused? Which is it?" His last question was almost only a hiss, his orange eyes were blazing. He reminded her heavily of Akito when the family head was bursting with aggression and anger.

The dragon calmly reached out and removed Momiji from Kyo's hands. "Enough," he muttered darkly and the look he set on Kyo would have frozen any grown man on the spot. But the cat only turned his eyes to the ground and stopped making a sound; though one could see that he was still silently fuming. The doctor turned his gaze to Yuki and nodded, a silent approve of how Yuki had behaved today. Then, his eyes fell on Toru.

There was so much she wanted to ask him. She didn't want to wait until tomorrow—she needed a plan right now! It may be even best for them to drive to the main house together and get the talk with Akito over, once and for all. "Explain everything," he quietly reminded her in the same tone in which he had told her to do her homework when she had been a child. "I'll be stopping by tomorrow."

The three teenagers watched as Hatori picked up Momiji's clothes, turned around and left. The three didn't say a word. They stood in silence. Everyone wanted to ask the other a billion questions but for the moment, no one did.

***

The mood in which the three were could be called unusual at best and awkward at worst. After Hatori's sudden leave, the teenagers had pulled themselves together and had pulled through with the culture festival as they would have if their little incident hadn't happened. Neither of the boys asked their female friend and housemate a question and, since Toru hadn't a clue what else to do, she copied their behavior. Throughout their work in the classroom, they didn't exchange a word at all and when it was time to go, they pulled on their jackets and went home together.

Simply everything was silent. They even went grocery shopping but none of them lost a word. Kyo hadn't even turned angry when Yuki had tossed leek into their basket. Toru felt safe to say that she had never felt so uncomfortable around the boys and she disliked it immensely.

How would they behave if she told them the truth?

Pondering how she would even begin to broach the subject with them, the girl didn't even notice that they had already arrived at Shigure's house. Yuki held the door open for her so that she could enter first. Together, they carried the grocery to the kitchen after they left their shoes at the entrance. They were all so deeply embedded in their thinking that they didn't see the unfamiliar traditional shoes which occupied the place where Toru normally would have left hers.

It wasn't until they moved around each other in the kitchen, putting the groceries away that Toru noticed it. Although they behaved like they were walking on eggshells, there was something else that was off. Extremely off. She stopped putting Shigure's favorite cookies into his special jar and listened. The girl hesitantly turned to face the boys who had mimicked her and had also stopped working. They both looked at her expectantly.

"Don't you … Don't you think it is unusually quiet?" Her voice was kind of meek but her brown eyes were looking towards the closed rice paper door that led to the living room. The novelist of their house loved to switch on the radio and the TV for background noises. He said, he wouldn't feel as alone. The only thing that could be heard now, though, was the silent dripping of the salad Toru had washed in the sink.

Just as the rat wanted to answer, the rice paper door slid open and revealed Shigure. His trademark Cheshire cat grin was plastered all over his lips and his yukata was tied as lazily as it always was, almost slipping off his right shoulder. And although he appeared to pester the kids about lunch any moment there also was something _off_ about him. The three teenagers stared at him as if he was a ghost because he had yet to start rambling.

Shigure titled his head to the side and continued to smile. "We have a visitor," he then said and Toru—worried only moments ago—switched immediately into host-mode. "A guest? Oh, who is it?" She turned around and switched on the stove with the kettle on it. "I'll make tea immediately!" Her small hand took a hold of the handle of her school bag. "I'll go upstairs and change! I'll go through the living room if you don't mind, Shigure-san?"

The older male shook his head and moved to the side to make room for her. The brown-haired girl entered the living room and looked, because of a sudden stinging feeling, to Shigure's office door, expecting it to be closed. Only it wasn't.

Akito leaned against the frail rice paper door.

His black eyes seemed even blacker than usual. Every bit of color was drained from his face. The contrast of his blood red yukata was even more striking in comparison to his skin.

Toru could not move. She felt her school bag slip out from her grip, heard it landing on the floor with a thud. Her brown eyes locked with his. He carefully and painfully slowly made his way through the room. Was this a dream? Did she have a fever? Akito bent down and picked her school bag up. His eyes were like two holes, bottomless, black pits of anger. And all of this anger was directed at her. The family head inched closer and pressed her bag against her stomach. Their noses were inches apart. They had been this close multiple times, they had hugged and cuddled. But despite of this her arms were glued to her sides as her bottom lip started to quiver.

Akito's stare pierced her, entered her like poison and invaded her system. There was only one thing that pained her most—it was the question that she could easily read through all of his anger. The only question in his eyes was "_Why?_".

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket and I don't earn money with this.

Well, well, well. I certainly enjoyed writing this chapter but half of it was typed on an Ipad and God knows; those aren't meant to write fanfiction on them. Aynways, I like cliffys a lot and yeah. I thought that it may be would have been better to let Akito enter the scene in the next chapter but I thought: Why would Akito stay at home when he could as well do something what Hatori has forbidden him? I hope you enjoyed reading through my bad English ;D I tried, peoples, and I kinda enjoyed it (as I said, haha :D) :P

Differences to the manga:

Toru's simpleness (in case any of you wondered why she left to think things through—she has been acquainted with Akito since a long time. I guess this would have changed her slightly. It didn't make her into a genius but I would think she was forced to use her head more often than not.) * Hatori obviously didn't have a camera or was to occupied to take a picture * Kyo is maybe going to be a bit more strained than he would be at this point in the manga

So yeah! See you next time and thanks a lot for the favs and follows! I giggle when I see a new one, hehe

xoxo Padlock


	4. Cracks

**Chapter 4:** Cracks

Brown still locked with black. Hours seemed to have passed since Akito had pressed her bag against her stomach. Toru felt as if she couldn't breathe anymore; as if she had forgotten how to let air into her lungs. There wasn't much comfort in the fact that Akito also had stopped breathing. He was watching her like a hawk would watch his prey; completely still, without moving at all. It was strange seeing him like that—he displayed the calmness before the storm. And this time, she would be hit by it with its full force.  
"Honda-san!" Yuki's voice was directly behind her but Toru only prayed that he wouldn't do something to upset Akito. She knew from experience that he could snap at any second now. Kyo's voice was much louder, rougher. "Stop threatening her," he barked and the girl could hear him stomp his foot on the ground like an upset five-year-old. Shigure's steps were also behind her, arriving in a slow and lazy manner, his socks slightly scraping over the tatami floor. On a second thought, she would have loved to turn around and look at the three of them standing there but she didn't dare to move a muscle.

She felt that it was a pretty dangerous situation in which she was in.

When Kyo stomped his foot again, Akito suddenly hurled Toru's school bag across the room. It neatly crashed through the thin paper door of Shigure's office door. "What the hell are you doing here?" he screamed furiously and his hands flew to her shoulders. His nails dug painfully into her skin as if there wasn't the material of her uniform in between and she frightfully bit on her still quivering bottom lip. "I …" Everything she wanted to say vanished from her mind when he interrupted her by stepping back. He then slapped her across the face.

Yuki's painful cry kept her from starting to sob helplessly but she didn't manage to hold in a painful cry of her own. "I stay here," she shouted rather loudly and watched as the black-haired male in front of her froze before he leapt at her again. They both went down to the floor, a hopeless tangle of arms, legs and his loosely tied yukata. It was strange that neither of the boys had stepped in but Toru could well imagine that they either wouldn't go against their family head or that Shigure was holding them back forcefully.

The last bit of her theory proved to be right when she heard Kyo scream at Shigure to release his hold on him. "Look at me, you dumb girl," Akito hissed against her ear to get her attention. "Why? Tell me why did you go against me?" The hiss turned so vicious that she felt again as if he had just poisoned her. But that was how Akito often felt to her. He was like poison, invading her system, confusing and slipping into every thought she had. It hurt her that he was again and again feeling the need to let _her_ feel his pain as well. She would never tell him that; the pain was still there, though. The family head was currently hovering only inches above her, his left hand pressed onto her arm, his right leg between hers so that he could put his full weight on her.

"Let … Let me explain, Akito-kun," Toru croaked but his hand was soon covering her mouth. "And why would I listen to your lies?" he spat, pressing onto her mouth harder as his anger took over, "You want to leave me, right? Is that it?" The teenage girl tried to continue breathing calmly but she panicked a bit when she saw that special spark in his black eyes. It was a bit of paranoia, a glimpse of the fear which he felt inside. With every bit of courage that she could come up with, Toru tried to deny his words but all that could be heard was a slur of incomprehensible words, further muffled by his hand over her mouth.

Akito's eyes widened as he continued to explain the situation to himself. "So you managed to sneak away from me in the past and you somehow got your hands on them. Do you think they are better than me? You think you can switch our places that easily?" The thin, pale lips on his face had been a bitter line but now turned into a maniac grin, mocking her. "You chose rather poor replacements for me, Toru." His eyes moved away from hers for the first time, focusing on the three people still gazing at them and not being able to help their female friend.

"Let's see … You chose the rat—a rather boring version of a human, really. I'm surprised you didn't lock him away like I did because of his boringness. Right, Yuki? You didn't forget the place where you belong, right? Your special room still waits for you …" Everything about Akito turned cruel; his words were like knifes, slashing at their victims and reopening scars about scars without so much as laughing at it. "Oh, and of course there's that annoying dog. Stupid and nosy like the animal. Well this one can stay in the house without leaving its hair all over the place but that's really all. And then, the cat …"

Suddenly, Toru found strength in her. She pushed her body upwards and Akito didn't expect her sudden movement. The teenage girl startled him but while she was brave enough to act that way, the fact that she was an utter klutz didn't change. So even while she managed to partly push the black-haired male off her, she also managed to crash her nose against his chin heavily.

The look Akito gave her was nothing short of incredulous. His hand had long ago slipped of her mouth and was now holding his chin. He obviously couldn't believe what had happened. And he maybe was stunned by the stream of blood that was streaming out of Toru's nose. It trickled over her lips and dripped off her chin, leaving tiny dark dots on the top of her school uniform. "Akito-kun … I'm so sorry. I want to explain and …" She turned around and felt her eyes watering. "I'm sorry for causing trouble, Shigure-san, I will repair the hole in your door!" Since she couldn't breathe properly due to her nosebleed, her voice sounded nasal and shrill but the brown-haired girl could care less.

Surprisingly, it was Yuki who broke the silence. "I … don't exactly understand what happened but it wasn't your fault, Honda-san." The grey-haired teenager held out a handkerchief to her. Out of nowhere, Akito's hand snatched it away. He unfolded it and wiped the blood off her lips, an openly disgusted look etched on his features. "It's your fault," he grunted, gritting his teeth while he pressed the handkerchief roughly against her nose, "But you may speak." The black of his eyes had smoothed over again. It was now shiny and spotless like a sea and it told her that her following words would either completely mend or completely break him.

***

There was a lot of awkward silence. Nobody had said a word. The silence was uncharacteristic for Kyo and Shigure; for Yuki, Akito and herself not so much but she just couldn't end it. While everyone was staring at her she wondered how she could put the shards that were lying in front of her back together. Or if she could fuse them back together at all. The stares she received from the others were neither hostile nor curious. Well, nonetheless … one couldn't call them friendly either.

Kyo's orange eyes were very much a forceful, questioning stare mixed with a subtle hint of anger and anticipation. (Okay, maybe _a lot_ of anticipation.) Although they had moved to sit at the living room table, it wasn't feeling like they sat there _together_. It felt as if each of them had decided to randomly sit down and that it was just a coincidence for the other four to have also chosen this table. For once, Yuki and Kyo seemed to share their way of thinking because their stares were oddly similar. Maybe the rat's eyes were a tiny bit more on the fearful side, with a kind touch to it but otherwise the presence of anticipation and the need to question the situation was the same. The stare that freaked her out the most though was surprisingly not Akito's—it was Shigure's. The oldest male at the table gazed at her with cool and calm eyes. Where they normally held mischief and warmth, they were now flat as if he had shoved the emotions out of them forcefully.

The fact that Shigure was not radiating the same atmosphere as Kyo and Yuki wasn't really surprising Tohru; it was more the fact that she felt a bit left out. For the first time she didn't have a clue what they might think of this situation which had presented itself to them so suddenly. At the same time, she couldn't see a way in which she could have avoided telling them about Akito if that was the thing that caused this heavy reaction. It was hard for the brown-haired teenager to cope with the strange distant that was growing between them. In the corner of her eyes she could see Akito watching her possessively, not able to move his eyes away from her anytime soon. She felt oddly mean for even thinking this but she thought that his stare was being a little bit creepy; his eyes were moving through different modes. One second they were shiny, full of curiousness—the next second they glazed over with burning anger.

Then again … while it still freaked her out slightly, she couldn't help but be bugged by the fear that Yuki and Kyo seemed to have whenever their eyes drifted to their family head. Of course she knew that the black-haired male next to her could be aggressive, cruel and all but kind. He had struck her across the face half an hour ago after all and it hadn't been the first time. There also was of course the incident with Hatori's eye that she had unfortunately witnessed. When she thought about it like this, other people would have fled a long time ago. If the boys knew about these incidents then their fear made sense … But they certainly didn't, did they? Hatori had made sure to swear her to secrecy. Maybe they were an exception because they were family?

Anyway … Despite the things that Akito had done and despite the things that he would do in the future, she couldn't find it in her to abandon him.

He surely thought she never noticed and that even if she did, she'd be too idiotic to think much of it but it didn't escape her notice that he sometimes looked at her with tender eyes. He always seemed like he wanted to say something in those moments but somehow couldn't. Those looks lasted mere seconds but when she saw them she felt incredibly happy for an unknown reason. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling that spread from her heart all over her body while it tingled and stole a breath or two, maybe even let her heart skip a beat while it was at it. Toru would never call herself clever or an expert at feelings but she knew that it was alright to have his temper released on her when he made it up with those looks.

"How long does it take for the stupid dragon to drive here?" Akito's harsh voice wasn't exactly pleasant to the ear and ripped Toru out of her thoughts. Her eyes flew to his and she realized that he had only addressed her. The spite in his voice told her that he was feeling insulted because he knew that she knew exactly how long it took to get from Shigure's house to the main house. Shigure had insisted earlier on to call the doctor because 'it was not normal how her nose continued to bleed'. If someone had asked her, the only thing she possibly could have needed in this moment was a bag of ice cubes to cool her neck and she would have waited for the bleeding to stop.

But as always, nobody had asked her and so she helplessly heard them calling Hatori over. She prayed that Akito would be able to keep his temper in check and that Hatori would be able to act as if he didn't already know that she lived here. "Have you gone deaf?" the object of her thoughts snarled and she immediately dropped back to reality. A reality, in which Yuki and Kyo seemed ready to jump across the table to save her. "It takes about 20 minutes," she meekly explained and dared to smile a little at the older male, ignoring that he couldn't see the stretching of her lips because of the handkerchief that she still had to press under her nose.

Akito wanted to snarl an answer but the doorbell saved her from his hurtful words. Shigure rose and went to open the door for Hatori. A job that would have normally been Toru's.

Everyone stared at the door in which Hatori would appear in any moment. When he did, the tall man walked through the door and paused.

Hatori Sohma wasn't easily surprised but when he spotted the girl with a bloodied handkerchief in front of her face and the three males at the table staring at him, he didn't know for a moment what to do, how to behave. His mind worked hurriedly to piece things together. Akito was here and had most likely found out about the situation his Toru was in. And then what—had he beaten her multiple times? The dragon couldn't imagine his God recklessly beating Toru. Or could he?

"What is the meaning of this, Akito-sama?" he decided to blankly inquire and didn't move a finger to sit down himself. The other black-haired male rose to his feet and walked over to his personal doctor. "Oh, Hatori, do not make the mistake to fool me." The shorter male focused on his healthy eye and smiled a small, secretive smile. "Toru tells you everything—I can't imagine you didn't know of this pity party." Akito jabbed his finger against Hatori's chest. "I actually think, you have been her partner in crime all along."

Before Hatori could say anything to defend himself, Toru stumbled to her feet and rushed in between them. "No, Akito! He didn't know anything of this! All of this time, I've-" "Shut up!" Akito pushed against her shoulder and the girl stumbled against Hatori who put her arms around her by reflex. And promptly vanished into a cloud of smoke. "Oh my God, Hitori!" The brown-haired girl whirled around and searched for a large dragon or a snake-like creature. But instead, she spotted a seahorse on the floor.

"Akito!" She turned around and stared at the family head in horror. "What did I do? Oh my God, what happened? Did I change him, oh God, what should I do? Salt water, sweet water, hot or cold?" She grabbed the sleeve of the family head's yukata and seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Will he die? Oh my God, what should we do?" As if nothing ever happened, Akito only rolled his eyes as he had done multiple times when dealing with her panicked rants. "Calm down, Toru. He won't die." His hand curled softly around the hand that still hold onto his yukata fiercely. "Shigure," he ordered, "will get him into some water." The black eyes turned to the dog who had stood behind the doctor. "And make sure, the water is _freezing_."

Kyo suddenly jumped to his feet and moved to stand nearly between Toru and Akito, albeit nearer to his friend than to what seemed to be his personal nemesis. It was clear that he could no longer handle the situation. "Toru, what the hell is happening?!" he seethed and threw his hands into the air. "Ugh, just tell us what's going on!" His orange eyes screamed that he couldn't take it any longer. The brown-haired girl needed a moment to process what he had said and blinked a few times. "Okay, let me just … I have to …"

She couldn't do this. She didn't know what to say! And Hatori … He had changed into a _seahorse_! This was crazy! And she didn't know … She just didn't want to …

Akito's calm, dark voice whisked her out of her panic as if he had pulled her out of cold water and saved her from drowning. "Breathe." She felt her chest raise and suck in air greedily.

"I have known Akito for a really long time," she suddenly started and looked at the floor, about to either turn red or start crying. "My mother was not feeling very well after my father died and left me … _alone_ for a bit and I decided to wander around the neighborhood. And somehow, I got lost. I just sat there at the playground and it started to rain and then there was that kind man and that had been Akito's father and he brought me to his home and I met Akito and Hatori and I was there for some time and then Mom came back and took me home and …" Toru fell quiet. Her rambling and her long sentence had taken away her air and she felt like she was suffocating.

_"Breath."_

The girl sucked in another two breaths, before she continued. "Hatori and Akito had been very nice to me and I continued to come over to visit and to spend time with them. After some while, it had become normal for me to come over and then Akira-san-" Akito heavily jerked her arm and just like that, she stopped speaking and looked at him with wide eyes. "When mother died, he graciously asked me to stay at the main house but I declined." Her brown eyes watered. "I didn't want to inconvenience him anymore than I already had over the years and decided to stay on my own." The family head looked as if about to interrupt but she almost comically looked at him in the most serious way there could be. "I stayed alone. It was in the forest behind Shigure's house. I stayed in a tent."

Silence. Pure silence, until Akito broke into a dark chuckle that slowly turned into a raspy laughter. It was only lasting for a few seconds but it was music to her ears. Laughter meant he was making fun of her and that was better than being angry with everybody. "You. You stayed in a tent. Alone. In the forest." His free hand pointed in the general direction of the forest located behind Shigure's house. "You, who is not able to stand the sight of a bug or be alone in a dark room for more than a few seconds, are you … Are you kidding me?"

The look on his face was genuinely stunned; he obviously couldn't believe what he just heard. Toru turned as red as a tomato, her cheeks burning unpleasantly. "No! I mean, yes, you are right but it's true! I stayed there for a week or so until Shigure found me!" Her eyes turned to said person and he nodded. The Cheshire Cat grin was forming again on his lips. "Oh, yes, I did found her. It was positively hilarious to see her in that small, dirty tent. Yuki and I had a good laugh at the sight." Yuki glanced at the house owner. He hadn't said much since his cry but he hesitantly nodded now. "It's true."

Toru watched Akito determinedly as if she was willing him to ask her to get out the tent and show him how she had lived in it. Maybe if Akito hadn't been Akito, he would have simply said 'Okay, if you say so!' and would have accepted that it was a simple coincidence that Toru got to live in this specific household. However, he was Akito and therefore rather believed that she (_Toru_!) wanted to mess with him.

"Tent or no tent—it doesn't change anything, especially not your betrayal," the family head explained and his voice was still angry but somehow soothed at the same time. Toru could only guess that this was most likely because he wasn't sure what to think. The brown-haired girl was certain that he, on one hand, wanted to believe her badly but on the other hand simply couldn't. Toru really didn't know where his trust issues came from but they didn't allow him to accept this. Just as she thought about his words, her brown-eyes immediately noticed how he seemed to switch back into an angrier mode. Since he had already lashed out at her, the only people he hadn't accused yet were Kyo, Yuki and Shigure.

It wasn't a question that she couldn't let that happen. She needed to come up with a plan to distract him and continue to calm him down at the same time. Perhaps now would really be the best time to make a beeline for the main house. "Akito," Toru heard herself hesitantly saying and she immediately got his attention. "If you like, we could return to the main house together so that I can properly apologize and explain to you." The cat let out a hiss that clearly told her that now he was the one who felt betrayed. The rat stared at her, as horrified as he had been when Akito had struck her across the face. The dog simply walked away without a visible reaction when a puff noise from the kitchen could be heard, signaling Hatori's return to his human form.

The black-haired male tightened his grip around her wrist—she had almost forgotten that he still held onto it. "Very well," he sternly replied. "But you know, admitting a crime is always followed by punishment." Her eyes stayed with his. She hadn't done anything wrong. She wasn't that mean person that he believed her to be. She hadn't replaced him. Who could be able to replace him? Nobody, she was sure of that. "We'll leave when the dragon has tended to your nose. Until he does, stop facing me. Now that you'll be silent, seeing the disgusting sight of your nose isn't necessary anymore." Toru was sure—nobody could replace this.

It wasn't until she fastened the seatbelt and gazed out the window to look at her three boys standing at the door that the teenage girl realized that she had let the distance between them become more real. Kyo stared hard at her; he most likely wanted to rip off the door of the car and pull her out of the vehicle. Shigure simply watched and since he was still behaving oddly, his gaze made her shiver inside. But when her brown eyes fell on Yuki … Something broke. He waved half-heartedly at her and seemed lost, alone, left behind—downright miserable.

She remembered.

_Toru made the mistake of asking him about his other friends and the relatives he called 'dog' and 'rat' and 'snake' and the seven-year-old also wanted to know if she could meet them, too. His slap hadn't been very hard or very painful but it had surprised her. And surprised children started to cry. "Why did you do that?" she sniffled and sobbed as she pressed her hand onto her cheek. Her skin stung a bit._

_The slightly older boy cupped her face in his hands and leaned over. "I've told you a long time ago that you are _my_ friend, not theirs! Did you meet one of them? Why did you ask? Did you see the grey-haired boy again?" His black eyes told her what he didn't want to hear. Toru would never lie to her friend but she was afraid of being slept again. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry, Akito-kun, I'll stop asking." Her voice turned into a whisper. "I'll never ask again!" Smiling sweetly, he let go of her face and pecked her on the cheek. "I'm glad, Toru. I like you the most."_

_On her way out, Toru sneaked away from the path she was supposed to stay on and made her way through the gardens. She had indeed seen the grey-haired boy again and she was just so curious! He seemed so nice but lonely at the same time. She just wanted to greet him, maybe cheer him up a bit, and know what animal he was! While walking around with Akito earlier, she had seen that he was sitting at a window near the eastern part of the house._

_The small girl sneaked her way towards said window, pretending to be a western special agent on a secret mission. With a bit of luck, the boy would still be sitting there! And really, when she neatly slid around the last corner, she saw him sitting in the window. He wore a pale blue yukata and leaned against the window's frame, looking at the birds in the trees in front of him. Oblivious as she was, the brown-haired girl didn't care to carefully approach the boy. She started to run towards and waved at him heartily. "Hello!" The boy's head whipped around, staring at her. She continued to run up to him until she stood directly in front of the window._

_"How are you?" The grey-haired boy looked really funny—his eyes (also grey!) were wide as he took her appearance in and he looked nothing short of incredulous. "I'm fine," he choked out. "And you?" His voice was really quiet and calm. Toru frowned. "Really? You don't sound fine at all. What's your name? Is it dog or snake or rat or—" His face suddenly became sad. "Rat," he whispered, so sad that she felt like crying, "But you already knew that, didn't you? Everyone only comes to me because I'm the rat." Confused, her brown eyes continued to stare up at him. She didn't really know what to think about this; Rat was only a nickname, right? So why would someone visit Rat because of his name? The girl really didn't understand._

_But she understood that Rat was really sad. Heartbreakingly sad!_

_A bright smile spread over her lips and Toru giggled softly. "Don't worry, Rat! I didn't come because of your nickname! I actually saw you walking through the garden a long, long time ago and I wanted to talk to you! But he has forbidden me to come so I had to sneak away." An adorable blush showed itself on Rat's cheeks. "You wanted to talk to me?" He glanced over his shoulder, carefully. "Who forbid you to talk to me?" _

_At his question, Toru looked down. "I can't tell you …" she replied guiltily, "I already broke on of his rules." As usual, she decided to no longer brood over her act of rebellion. "But let's forget about him for now! Why don't you come out and we play a bit?" She sent him a toothy grin because he appeared rather nervous to her. Rat smiled kindly, though still sadly. "I'd like to but he'll come and place me back in my room soon. He won't be pleased if I run away." Oh, she was so curious! Somehow trying to wrap her prodding up in a polite question, Toru titled her head. "That's too bad. Where is your room? I could visit you again when I'm here next time." _

_Rat pointed out of the window and to the right. Toru looked at a cube shaped room that had been added to the building a few months ago. Akito had told her about how he had been allowed to look at the building plans. "That's your room?" The small girl gaped at Rat. "But the cube doesn't have any windows!" Rat peered down at her from his higher place on the window sill. "It doesn't have any windows," he agreed in a hushed voice. Both children were silent. Rat staring at the floor, Toru staring at Rat._

_"You … you never told me your name," Rat suddenly whispered and the girl titled her head further to the side. "You're right … I'm so sorry, this is so rude of me! Please accept my apologies." Her cheeks blushed heavily as she bowed. She let her excitement overwhelm her! When she had straightened again, she smiled at him. "Well, since you have such a cool nickname as Rat, I'll also choose a cool nickname for myself. Uhm …" A few seconds passed in which Toru tried to come up with an acceptable nickname. "I know! I'll be Onigiri!" While the girl grinned, Rat frowned at her. "Nickname? Rat isn't a nickname. I'm the rat because I am-"_

_Steps behind Rat let him become stiff. "You have to go now, Onigiri! He'll get very angry when he sees you!" He waved a hand at her. "Leave!" Suddenly frightened, Toru stumbled backwards and hid behind a group of bushes._

_"What now? Are you talking to yourself?" Toru stared at Rat's frightened form, pressed against the window frame. She couldn't see the other person but that had been Akito's voice right now! The grey-haired boy nodded his head in a jerking manner, all the while staring at something inside which Toru couldn't see. "Wow, you actually managed to do something interesting. Well, if turning crazy can be considered interesting." The girl behind the bushes scrunched up her face—why was her friend being so mean to Rat? Were they fighting? Her heart went out to Rat. He seemed to be really sorry for what he had done. Couldn't Akito see that?_

_The next words of the young heir told her, he couldn't. "We shall move you back to your room," the black-haired male announced and finally appeared next to Rat at the window. For a moment, his black eyes lingered on the place where Toru was hiding but his gaze moved on, wandering over the garden. "After all, you love your _special room_ so much, right? It will never go away; it will always _wait for you."

_Once Akito had finished, he grabbed a handful of Rat's grey hair and pulled him away from the window, inside the room and down the hallway. The small boy's cries of how he didn't want to go back followed Toru all the way home and deep into her dreams._

_She shouldn't speak to Rat again—she was the reason that Akito walked in on the boy talking! It was her fault. And so, her seven-year-old self had pushed the memory away, had shoved it deep into a locked box at the back of her mind. Where it had stayed, safely hidden from her consciousness. _It had stayed there; until now.

Horrified, the teenage girl quickly patched together the things she had learned from her memory. Yuki was afraid of Akito, heavily afraid. He hated rooms which were dark, he despised rooms without windows. He had been forced to stay in the room for long periods of time. Toru remembered Akito often saying he was going to go the cube-shaped room. So the black-haired male had put that unimaginable pain on her friend, on Yuki. (On _Rat_.) Her brown eyes turned to Akito who sat next to her in the back of Hatori's car.

"Akito …" His black eyes moved to her lazily as if she were a picture at which one would glance while passing by. "I was wondering … What exactly is Yuki-kun's special room?" A terrifying feeling appeared in her heart. She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from him. How could she be friends with a person who had put this kind of pain on someone? Toru was too occupied with the terror inside to notice Hatori's warning stare, directed at her through the rear view mirror.

The family head stretched out his arm, his fingertips sensually stroking over her right cheek and then following her jaw line. He smirked and leaned towards her. "It's darkness," he said and the smirk turned into something else, something maniacally. "Don't worry. You'll see it soon." 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket and I don't earn money with this.

Hello, folks! Padlock strikes again.

This time, I shall present to you 5,400 words of pure FUN. 5,400 words of AKITO'S WRATH PART 1 OF 500. I'm not saying that this story will turn M-rated anytime soon but Akito will get a bit more dramatic in the near future. By the way: we have another cliffie here, I love those thingys!

THANKS A LOT for every fav and follow and the reviews I've received so far. You are wonderful. (I still giggle, occasionally.)

Question of the day: Do you think Toru will turn away or stay with Akito? ;D

Oh, and for some while, I've been entertaining the thought of doing a Fruits Basket & Ouran High School Host Club crossover. Imagine the hilariousness of a jealous Akito who is about to punch Tamaki in the face because he kissed Toru's hand. :D

Anyway, that will have to wait a while because next to the AkitoToru-flash, HitsugayaRukia (Bleach) got all my fan feels. :D (Again.)

**Differences to manga:**

Nothing that isn't obvious but feel free to point things out if you like. By the way, for those Kyo-lovers (if there are any); do not fret! Kyo shall be more blunt and aggressive throughout the next chapters! Oh, yes, any thoughts on Shigure's awkward behavior?

Since we won't be talking through my boring A/N since after the festivities: HAPPY CHRISTMAS (take my cliffie as a very loving gift).

**xoxo Padlock**


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